


Haunted Hayride (in August)

by taylor_tut



Series: Whump Bingo [2]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Fainting, Gen, Heat Stroke, Protective Max, Sick Character, Sickfic, dadvid, heat exhaustion, sick david
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 17:00:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14313192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/pseuds/taylor_tut
Summary: For the whump Bingo on my tumblr: David plans Halloween in August, complete with a haunted hayride, but pulling a wagon full of children around when it's super hot isn't the best idea.





	Haunted Hayride (in August)

“This is so ridiculously stupid,” Max complained.

“Oh, come on, Max! You’ve heard of Christmas in July, so why not Halloween in August?”

“Do you want an itemized list of why not, or would you prefer chapter book form?” he walked toward the cabins, his hands shoved in his pockets. “You know what? I’m actually going to do a PowerPoint.” 

David reached out and turned him around by the hood. 

“Oh, come on, Max. It’s just a little haunted hayride.” 

“Except there’s no hay,” Neil objected. “It’s you pulling us around in a wagon through the forest, where you dressed the trees up as horror movie characters--”

“Which you’re stupid sunburned from, just so you know,” Max interjected.

“--And then probably Gwen jumping out of the bushes to surprise us.”

David’s smile faltered, but he ushered the first small group of three campers into the wagon, anyway.

An hour later, David hauled the wagon up the hill once more. Nurf, Dolph, and Harrison climbed out of the wagon.

“How was it?” Nikki asked, “was it scary? Were there real ghosts?”

Harrison shook his head. “The only scary thing about it is that I’m pretty sure David’s gonna get heat stroke if he keeps running around like this,” he said. 

Though it was said lightheartedly, Max looked at David and rolled his eyes when he found that it probably wasn’t far from the truth. David’s shirt was wet from sweat, but his forehead and face were dry, and his cheeks were flushed bright red. 

Neil looked terrified. “Jesus Christ, David,” he fretted, “you look like a wreck.”

David shook his head, which sent him toppling to the side before he caught himself. “S’all good, kids!” he chirped. “Climb in!” 

Hesitantly, Neil, Nikki, and Max sat in the wagon, knowing that the argument would likely be futile and that it’d be easier to get it over with so they could get David  a damn water bottle and a cold shower. 

The ride was less than thrilling. 

Masks were nailed into the trees, increasingly lazily as the ride progressed, and Max frowned as he could tell exactly where David had began to lose steam and should have stopped to rest, but more than likely hadn’t yet. 

David tripped over his own feet and scrambled to stand back up. 

“Sorry ‘bout that,” he apologized, dusting off his clothes clumsily. 

“David, you skinned your knees,” Nikki pointed out.

“And you’re shaking like a leaf,” Neil added. 

David shook his head. “Jus’ cause it got so cold out,” he explained. Max’s stomach dropped.

“What do you mean, you’re cold?” he asked. “It’s still 100 fucking degrees out.”

David looked so genuinely confused that Max wanted to slap him in the face. 

“But--cold,” David defended lamely. 

“Sit the fuck down,” Max demanded, but David was swaying dangerously. “Seriously, right now.” 

“Kids,” David slurred, “M’s’rry, I think--I might pass out.”

“What?!” Neil screeched. David was on the ground before any of them could even get out of the wagon. 

“Get Gwen,” Max commanded, “I’ll stay here and make sure nothing eats him.”

It was several minutes of Max slapping him in the face before David even began to stir.

“Nngh,” he groaned, “stop.”

“You deserve it,” Max deadpanned. “You fucking fainted.”

David blinked dizzily. “Don’t ‘member that,” he whined.

“Yeah, not fucking surprising,” Max snapped, “considering your brain is boiling in your dumb skull.”

“Wha--?”

Max rolled his eyes. “Seriously? You’ve been out in the heat all day pulling a cart of kids around without drinking anything.”

David frowned. “I don’t drink,” he objected. “Dad did--I don’t.”

Max bit his lip. “I meant water,” he clarified, “but thanks for sharing.”

“Oh,” David said simply. “Spinnin’,” he complained. 

“You--what, you’re dizzy?”

David nodded. “Feel real sick,” he said. 

“I swear to God, if you throw up on me, I’m leaving you here for the wolves to eat.”

David paled and swallowed painfully against a dry throat. His eyes fluttered shut, and Max panicked. 

“No, nope,” he ordered, slapping David’s face again, “you’re not doing that. Stay awake.”

“But I’m tiiiiiired,” David whined. 

“Do I look like I give a shit?”

David treated it like a real question, studying Max’s face. “Yes, actually,” he said simply, and Max turned away embarrassedly. 

“Yeah, well,” he bit, “that’s only ‘cause I don’t want you die and leave Gwen in charge.”

David smiled and reached up to pat Max’s head.  

“David!” an angry voice called up the hill, “I fucking told you this would happen!” 

“Gwen’s maaaaad,” David whispered to Max, who almost laughed. 

“Damn right she is,” he agreed.

“I told your stupid ass that this was a stupid-ass idea,” she continued, marching toward David with death in her eyes, “and what did your stupid ass do?”

David looked sheepish. “My stupid ass did it anyway,” he admitted, and Max raised an eyebrow at the uncharacteristic cursing.

Gwen sighed. “Well, get in the wagon,” she commanded. “You can’t walk back to camp.”

She helped David climb into it, and it took all four of them to get it started rolling, then all four of them again to keep it from hurtling down the hill. 

“Bring out your dead!” Nikki screamed as they pulled the wagon, “Bring out your--”

“Shut it, Nikki,” Max snapped, “you’re scaring him.” 

David looked uncomfortable but removed from the situation, like paying attention was too much to be bothered with.

\------------------------------------

When he woke up fully-clothed under the stream of a cool shower, he blearily looked to Gwen. 

“Was it spooky?” he asked, “were the kids scared?”

She sighed. “Yeah,” she admitted, “they actually were.”

“Max too?”

She smiled, glancing at the door under which she could see the shadow of Max’s two feet, promising that he was hovering and waiting for David to be brought out alive. 

“Max especially,” she reassured, “but we’re never doing this again.”

David just nodded. 


End file.
